


Small Beginnings (Fiction Defunct)

by Fetronic



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Arm trauma, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Hammond Robotics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24765817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fetronic/pseuds/Fetronic
Summary: Tucker, an engineer at Hammond Robotics, comes up with an invention that will change the lives of many people from the Outlands to the Core System. In order to turn his invention into a reality, he needs approval from Hammond Robotics. First however, field testing is required to work out all the bugs in his invention- Nanomites. Using his knowledge of the Apex Games and the support of his Best Friend, he takes a risky chance to accomplish everything in one fell swoop and become the Apex Legend known as Nano!
Relationships: Pathfinder (Apex Legends)/Original Character(s), Wattson | Natalie Paquette/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 7





	1. Failure

“I'm a failure!” A man in a bar stool at the Paradise Lounge said to the bar tender, who was busy cleaning the bar as things began to settle down for the night. The man was speaking into his now half-empty glass of Vodka, drowning his sorrows in liquor. Though that wasn't saying much, since this was his first, and probably only, glass of booze for the night. His caramel skin tone blended with the table he was slumped over, even his dreaded hair was hard to see from a distance, except for a single blue dread that looped into his man-bun. He munched on a nearby bowl of pretzels as the bar tender spoke up.

“No you're not, don't be ridiculous!” She said in her usual exasperated tone. She had been trying to comfort the man all evening, not really being able to say much as the usual rush hour had swept the bar and had her on her toes. She was doing her best, but this wasn't the first time the man came in with the intention to drink and tonight was the worst she'd seen him.

The bar tender was much lighter in comparison, and her pitch black hair could have easily dropped to her lower back if it wasn't put up as well as it was. Her job required her to make rapid movements, so it was braided and bundled up to rest nicely on her shoulders.

“Tucker, listen to me. You're not a failure, ok? They just don't see potential when it's biting them in the ass. Your little gizmos are great, and they'll help a lot of people... Why are you even trying to get into the Apex Games anyways? Isn't that like, the opposite of what they're supposed to do?” She cocked her head as she questioned the man known to her as Tucker, but to the rest of the world as Dr. Freighter.

“I don't know, Krystal. I see it as exposure, maybe if the world can see what I can do in the worst scenarios, they'll want to use it when applied to everything else. What's worse than a blood-sport?” Tucker sighed as he picked up one of his Gizmos and played with it between his fingers. It was a very tiny gizmo, easily mistaken as dried lint or a dead bug.

It was neither of those, as it was made specifically to be that small. What Tucker held in between his fingers was his life's work, a small robot that was, simply, designed to make things better. On it's own, it was a small, round, bug-like robot that had wings, three eyes, four legs, and a panel that opened up to reveal an inconceivable amount of needle like appendages. This is what made the Gizmo special as it was the heart of the machine and allowed it to fulfill it's purpose; to upgrade any technology to over-preform it's designed function to a massively noticeable degree, on the spot.

“My Nanomites,” Tucker said, taking a pause to dramatically sigh before continuing, “are not what Hammond Robotics is looking for in a product. I knew I should have made something bigger, damn it!” Tucker slams his empty fist on the counter top, and taking a deep breath before continuing. “I have no idea why they hired me, how I got a R&D wing, and how I've still been funded this long. I have no idea what I'm doing, at least, not enough to make the executives happy. Now I've gone and requested a transfer over to the Apex Games for field testing on a product they haven't even okay'd yet. What am I thinking?!?” Tucker puts his head in his arms and hides his face.

Krystal puts her glass down, it slams a little harder than she intended but it still gets the point across. She grabbed Tucker by his forehead and pushed his face up to look at hers. “Look, listen to me. You are not a failure. Hammond Robotics can stick it where the sun don't shine if they reject your ideas. Sure you're taking things in a wacky direction but maybe that's what this world needs. A fresh, new, idea that can change the way we look at everything around us. You and that little guy right there can change the galaxy; all of those Minimites can.”

Tucker sniffs, and replies softly. “They're... Nanomites...”

Krystal sighed hard. “Nanomites, whatever. My point is still valid, you're letting that dumb inner voice get to you again. Stop it, stop listening to it. It's doing you nothing but harm because that little voice is self-doubt. You need to accept yourself and your ideas as who you are and what you've made. I have no idea how it works, but that doesn't mean it's not great. I don't know how a Titan works, I don't know how an Orbital Defense System works, I don't know how a MRVN works. But that doesn't stop me from appreciating their values to society and knowing that they're making my life better for it.” Krystal let out an exhale, staring down Tucker with a rage meant only for the benefit of the person getting the look.

Krystal let her feelings set in, took a breath, and looked away. Before Tucker could do anything else, she snatched his glass. “I'm cutting you off for the rest of the night. No more booze from me.”

“What the hell, I wasn't done with it yet!” Tucker whined, like a kid who got his apple juice taken away.

“No, no more. If you're gonna be a little bitch about it I'll re-reimburse you in VR but that's out of my pocket.” Krystal said bluntly, sticking to her guns.

Tucker hesitated before slumping back down, not in the mood to fight Krystal. “Fine, whatever. I'd say your a bad friend but my sober self will kick his own ass for it, so there's no point to it.”

“Good, now I suggest you go home and sleep this night off. You'll feel better about everything in the morning.” Krystal said.

“God, you're just like mama... I mean you give good advice and I can't fight you on anything rational. Goodnight, I guess. Drive home safe.” Tucker said, getting off the bar-stool and heading for the exit.

“Goodnight Tee, don't let the cabbie over-charge you this time.” Krystal said, with a little humor in her voice.

“Yeah, yeah, I won't. Also,” Tucker added, “before I go, I wanna point out that you might not know how a MRVN works; but you sure know how to work a MRVN. Haha.” Tucker teased Krystal as he opened the door and walked out. He would usually get an earful on how “that's not true” and “how he shouldn't bring up other people's sex lives since he's 27 and still a virgin.” but he was long gone.


	2. Home

The cab driver did, in fact, over-charge Tucker, but his mind was in too many places to notice. He was still worried about everything. He always got a response within' a couple days of submitting his projects to the executives of Hammond Robotics. They'd always be quick and blunt about their responses, stating things wrong with the idea itself or how the prototype didn't bring enough confidence in the Council to be willing to undertake the further development of his ideas. This time was different, however, in that it's been two weeks since he's heard a response from either of his requests for the go-ahead to further develop the Nanomites or to be allowed transfer from company to field-testing. 

Tucker opened his door to his large apartment. It was housing provided by Hammond Robotics, but it was large and spacious and easily accommodated his things. Tucker, with his Nanomite still in hand, placed down the small robot prototype on his coffee table and walked further into the apartment. He walked past the living room and into the hallway, he took a left at the first door and entered his spare room. This is where he kept his “equipment.” Instead of your usual closet filled with computer coding files, wires and machines, and little pieces of parts for the project, Tucker had filled it with a set of glass cases that housed a fancy looking outfit. 

The outfit was a grey jumpsuit with a cape sowed onto it, it had padding on the spots of the body worth protecting, black rubber boots, and a rope-like belt that tied everything together. To the right of the massive display was a much smaller glass case. Inside this case was a set of combat gloves with buttons attached to the palms, and smaller pieces of plastic on the fingertips minus the thumbs. To the left of the massive display was an equally as small glass case, however this one was empty. The closet itself was made to look like a shrine, but it wasn't dedicated to anyone. There were three small lights in the closet, each set up above the glass cases. Tucker let out a sad sigh, turned off the lights, and closed the closet door. 

He walked back into his living room. It was filled with your average furniture and appliances you would expect in a living room. Tucker owned a nice couch, coffee table, a large television, and a shelf for his knickknacks. However, what took up a massive amount of space in his living room was a giant open section of the room that was transformed into what looks like a VR dedicated play-space. That is exactly what it used to be, but over the months is was slowly re-purposed as a work space for coding his Nanomites. The once simple and clean VR headset now looked like a mad scientist's creation, with exposed wiring, clunky attachments, and bits&bobs that whirred and buzzed away while it was active. 

Tucker stopped in front of his VR work space and stretched his body. It was only 12 am, the night was still young for Tucker, as it wasn't uncommon for him to work into the wee hours of the day. He took off his flannel over shirt and put it on his computer chair, put on VR compatible gloves, and walked inside his designated VR work space. He bent down and picked up his helmet from the ground. He placed it on his head, twisted a few nobs, adjusted it on his head to fit a little more comfortably, then strapped the helmet on with the buckles he sowed on himself. The helmet lit up as it turned on, glowing a bright green and lighting up the edges of his face.

“Welcome back Dr. Freighter!” said an automated voice Tucker was all too familiar with. “Hammond Robotics is happy to know you're still hard at work, is there anything I can help you with today?”

“Yes, run Nanomite Pre-Alpha V1.564. Open source code and keyboard, please.” Tucker said blankly, swiftly stretching his arms and readying himself to type.

The voice did not reply but did as Tucker asked. Quickly, the room he was in was littered with green holographic screens, all displaying words and phrases that only Tucker could comprehend at this speed. As everything came into view, a small pop-up appeared reading “Activate Nanomites? YES/NO.” Tucker pressed yes, ready to see where he left off on the coding. 

The Nanomite that was left on the table shuttered to life. It's three eyes each glowing their three colours, red, green, and blue. It's wings briefly flapped and lifted it up in the air and floated above the coffee table. It's legs shifted and moved, testing it's motor functions and current capabilities, underneath the panel in the Nanomite, it's tiny appendages also warming up and testing their capabilities. Once fully operational, the Nanomite took flight and made it's way to Tucker; patiently awaiting for any order. 

A small holographic name tag appeared over the Nanomite's body, changing back and forth between #0001 and Adam in half a second intervals. Then, another Nanomite flew into Tucker's view. It's name tag appeared as #0348 and Jessie. Then two more Nanomites flew into view, then five more, then twenty, then one hundred. Soon, all of the available Nanomites were in Tucker's view, happily waiting an instruction, all but one that is. Late to the role call, as usual, Nanomite #1372/Steve finally stumbled into the massive black cloud of Nanomites that were now obscuring Tucker's view of the front door. With everyone, finally, ready to go, Tucker cracked his knuckles and got ready to work.

“Attention,” the voice interrupted Tucker as he was about to begin typing, “we have detected that you, Dr. Freighter, have been drinking alcohol. We here at Hammond Robotics enforce an alcohol free work space. We have restricted your access to your code, so you are not capable of messing it up with slurred attempts and set you back months. Thank you for understanding!”

Tucker took in a long, deep breath... and screamed. It wasn't a scream in pain, just a loud scream that was able to vent his frustrations. He took off his headset and lifted it high above his head. He was about to smash it, but then sense and reason took control of Tucker just in the nick of time. With the headset still in his arms, he sighed slightly and gently lowered it to the ground. 

“Report back to your holding space, and wait for further instructions.” Tucker said to the floating cloud of Nanomites in front of him. They happily obeyed, and flew into a nearby rectangular box. A small hatch opened up for the Nanomites and they all flew in collectively, none of them crashing into each other or taking too much space as so others could get inside as well. 

Tucker walked to his couch and sat down, grabbing the remote control that was near by and turning on the TV. It was on a screensaver, waiting for another input to reactivate. Tucker pressed play, and the Apex Games was on pause. It wasn't any matches that were recent, but a recording from a couple months back; around just before Revenant had joined as a Legend. It was the match that Krystal had managed to get stuck in while trying to patch things up with Pathfinder. It was a normal match on World's Edge for everyone participating, except for Krystal since she wasn't hooked up to the respawn banners. Her performance was a complete accident, yet she managed to live through the entire thing and even get a chance to stand with Pathfinder and Wraith as Apex Champions. Tucker knew she was carried, as it was clear her skills with a gun rivaled that of a child who prefers to hit people with sticks than use a toy gun. 

Ever since Tucker applied for the transfer, he had been watching Krystal's match over-and-over again, hoping somehow her dumb luck would rub off him in this weird, made up, ritual. It seemed like it was a lost cause. Tucker watched the television as the hours ticked by, and he eventually drifted off to sleep on his couch.

Tucker woke up peacefully, stirring into consciousness as his body slowly began to remember why sleeping on an inexpensive couch is vastly inferior to sleeping on the bed he spent hundreds of dollars on. He sat himself up, his face looking as miserable as he felt the night before, with the added bonus of a very slight hangover. Tucker looked to his clock, which told him it was Saturday 11:35 am. Tucker hated waking up later than ten, but it was the weekend and he's been having a crappy week waiting in anxiety and self-loathing. Tucker gave himself a small break when it came to waking up late, and stood up.

He yawned, and lifted his arms in the air to perform a very long stretch. His body pulling itself upwards as the muscles that were squished the entire night finally got to shift and flex. His body thanked him by getting rid of some of his sleepiness, and Tucker was off to the bathroom to do part two of his morning ritual. He was going to take a shower. 

Tucker's bathroom was very clean, the mirror and porcelain were both spotless, all of his bathroom supplies were stacked neatly in their designated spots, and his toilet was practically sparkling. If there was one thing Tucker was going to keep clean, it would be his bathroom; that was the promise he made to himself when he moved into his own apartment after he left home and college dorms. Walking up to the sink and fixing his hair, tucker took out his phone and set it on the side, and got undressed. 

Tucker turned his water valve to the right, and let the shower heat up. As he checked the water temperature and waited for it to get comfortable, the room started filling with steam. The water got up to a nice temperature, and he got in and relaxed. The warm water soothing his stressed mind and body, helping him wake up in a good mood. The sores on his sides melted away as the gentle downpour of water massaged his body into ease. 

Tucker was ready to start lathering when his phone rang. Normally he wouldn't have given it a second thought outside of a quick glance, but the caller ID made him do a double take, and shook him out of his shower heaven. Work. Work never called on his days off, so to have them do it out of the blue made Tucker realize that it was probably important. He nearly slipped getting out of the shower, the towel rack on the wall giving him support as his weight shifts too quickly. He grabbed his phone and tried to accept the call, but the fog and his wet hands had made it impossible to do so on his touch screen. He quickly wiped the phone dry on a nearby towel. 

Tucker finally got to press accept on the call and spoke into the phone, “H-Hello?” 

“Yes, is this Dr. Freighter?” the usual voice of the Hammond Robotics secretary came through.

“Yes ma'am, Dr. Freighter here how can I help?” Tucker said, his water still running in the background.

“Well, we have received you rather... large requests when it comes to your Nanomite Technology. The council would like a meeting with you at your earliest convenience. We know that Saturdays are you days off but I would like to inform you that we are open seven days a wee-” the secretary was cut off by Tucker's response.

“Yes, Yes, I would love to have a meeting. Can we schedule this in half an hour?” Tucker was now getting impatient, for more reasons than one. 

“Oh! Alright then let me check... hold on Dr. Freighter... just a sec...” the secretary took her time, a sound of slurping can be heard as she remains silent. Tucker did not have unlimited hot water, as his apartment made sure everyone did so they capped his daily hot water limit at 15 minutes. “Right, here we are. Saturday, 12 pm... you're in luck Doctor, we can schedule you in. Thank you very much.” she said, typing while responding. 

“Oh good, thank you very much. Is there anything else?” Tucker asked in a hurry.

“No sir, that's all I needed to call you fo-” again, the secretary was cut off.

“Great, awesome, see you in half an hour bye!” Tucker hung up, and was finally able to relax. The day was beginning to look up for Tucker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scene where Krystal lives through an Apex match without respawn is taken from IxNova's "Path the Stars" fiction.


	3. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This depiction of Hammond Robotics is not canon, but a simple interpretation of how they would operate. I am also aware that the CEO of Hammond Robotics is either Old Man Hammond or his son, but I like my ideas more so you will see more of her in the future chapters.

Half an hour later, Tucker had cleaned himself up and was wearing his lab-coat, his name tag, and had brought in his experimental field-testing gear with him for demonstration if the counsel wanted one. This was very nerve wracking, but one thing was for sure in his mind and it was that he wasn't fired... yet. Hammond Robotics is very picky when it comes to those who work for them, if they don't like your behavior in any official meeting then they will find every reason to fire you, or so the rumors are told. Tucker was unsure of his position ever since he was hired, always feeling like he was never quite up to par with every other engineer in his field, despite the fact that Tucker himself had worked on many great things in his career and that the Nanomites were his first personal development while working. 

He was hired as a technician of sorts, making sure the assembly line that produced the most recent versions of MRVN units were always fully functional. Then he was promoted to an actual engineering position, where he was tasked to make the prototype weapon designs for the Titans for field testing. After the end of the Frontier War, many people were laid off, but Tucker was given a chance at another promotion should he succeed. He was asked to pitch the counsel any ideas he had, and if they liked the direction he would be hired as a lead-engineer in a small R&D wing to improve his designs. He had sent the counsel six iterations of Nanomites, but was rejected each and every time. To his credit, Tucker had taken those rejections and redesigned everything from the ground up, always trying new things out and getting further along development before asking for approval. He feared that the blueprints looked too complicated to be mass produced, or that the coding needed would be unreliable to control over a thousand tiny robots at once. For his seventh attempt, Tucker had sunk most of his free time into personally developing each and every Nanomite, writing their code himself, and working out all of the bugs that cropped up during his development cycle. No company money was used on this project, this was all the work of his dedication to his idea. This is what Tucker was bringing to the meeting today. 

Tucker had taken the main elevator all the way to the top of the Hammond Robotics headquarters, where the counsels' meeting room was located. The secretary greeted Tucker as he entered the floor. 

“Ah, Dr. Freighter. Right on time!” she said, encouragingly. She noticed Tucker was nervous, everyone in a five mile radius could feel his nerves shaking. 

“Good, great, I'm glad I made it. Thank you for the call by the way.” Tucker said as he walked up to her, subconsciously stalling the inevitable. 

“No problem, I hope the call wasn't an inconvenience for you, you did sound per-occupied on the phone.” she raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Oh, I'm sorry if I did. I can assure you that nothing else was on my mind at that moment.” Tucker said, which wasn't a complete lie. 

“Mmhmm, well, the counsel are ready when you are Dr. Freighter. Just past those doors.” the secretary pointed to the only doors on the floor. They were giant doors that were easily twenty-feet tall, and would intimidate the pants off of anyone who worked there. The kids who took field trips to the HQ loved them, however, and it was stated to be the reason why they were still installed over a less nerve-racking door. Tucker took a deep breath and held it as he walked in.

After scanning his ID card, the doors slowly swung open to reveal a large room surrounded by glass walls. The room was a clean and spotless white, making even Tucker's bathroom look like a blackroom in comparison. Everything was a clean white, from the floor to the ceiling to the only thing in the room. The only thing in the room was a long table on a raised platform. It was in the shape of the letter C, and the opening faced directly at the doors. The edges of the table were lower than the ones closer to the middle, ending the base of the table with a higher table dedicated to the most important person in that room, The CEO of Hammond Robotics. 

The other seats were filled with the holograms of important people, besides the CEO herself. To the right, there were all the major stock-holders, going in descending order of their prevalence in the company itself. On the left, there was every head of every branch of the company, from finance, to engineering, to security, and even the janitorial branch. 

The murmuring in the room had stopped as soon as Tucker had walked into the room, now the meeting could begin. “Ah, welcome Dr. Freighter. Come in, please.” The head of Engineering spoke up first. 

“Yes sir.” Tucker said in a subdued voice. He tried to keep his calm, knowing if he appeared too weak he could be disliked and fired. 

“You see,” the head of Engineering spoke up again, everyone looking at him while he talked, “we have received your request for product approval, and also your request for field testing.” 

The room remained silent as Tucker simply nodded in acknowledgment.

The man continued. “And as you know, we do not conduct a meeting without staff unless it is of the utmost importance. If this were a simple product approval, we would have contacted you through other less... involved means.” 

The lead of finance spoke. “We have noticed that you have already accelerated the process of production and taken it on your own will to create your product, the Nanomites if I'm correct, and build not just one working prototype, but at least a thousand plus a means of controlling them. All from your own salary, and not a penny pinched from your wing's pension.”

The lead of security speaks up, “and of course, you have been teaching yourself how to write code for your little machines, all in your time off while still keeping up with your duties inside of Hammond Robotics. You have not breached any NDA while doing this, and have kept every step of the way a complete secret. Not even a murmur to your relatives or friends.” 

The lead of Engineering continues. “We have considered everything you have done so far, but there is still more that needs to be on the table.” he takes his hand from under the table and presses a button. Next to Tucker, the floor slightly disappears and a door ascends from the hole. It is an exact replica of the doors used in the Apex Games. “As you can see, Dr. Freighter, this is a door taken directly from the Apex Game's warehouse. It is sturdy, heavy, and most importantly, semi-fragile. Two kicks from the average person, or a single grenade, is all it takes to break it down and allow the Legend to enter.” The lead of Engineering leans forwards, clasps his hands together, and rests his head on them. “Your description for your Nanomites always stated that they could upgrade anything. Here is something to upgrade, Doctor, a certain something that you should be all too familiar with. Please, demonstrate for us what your prototype is capable of doing.” 

Tucker took a deep breath, calmed himself, and put on his glove that he brought over. He put on the single glove, and placed the rectangle box on the table in front of him and faced it towards the door. The box he brought was much more than a container for the Nanomites. The box itself was also a very important piece of equipment, as it acted as a central hub for all the Nanomites, allowing Tucker to insert a single command and it relay to the entire swarm. While each Nanomite had an individual role it needed to play while upgrading something, the Box filtered out the commands so that one command becomes a series of very similar, yet functionally different, command for each Nanomite. 

Tucker, adjusting both the box and his glove, made sure everything was the best condition it could be. With a few clicks from his glove, he points at the door. A quick mechanical sound breaks the deadly silence as the hatch to the box is opened. Seconds feel like hours as the box starts to hum with intent. The humming gets louder by the second, as the time goes on the box get ever louder. The Counsel, and Tucker, are waiting with semi-bated breath.

Suddenly, a single Nanomite pops out of the box. It swiftly flies to the door, and attaches itself. It's panel opens, and it gets to work. Then, another Nanomite appears from the box. Then another, and more, and more. Soon there is a massive flood of over a thousand Nanomites leaving the box and getting to work. What would have taken hours for a single Nanomite to accomplish is now being accomplished in seconds, the swarm covering the door like an infestation. 

The Nanomites come to the end of their job and one by one they slowly detach from the door. In unison, the Nanomites play a small tune of completion. “Do, dodo, dooo!” The Nanomites make their way back into the box, again easily making space and getting inside effectively and efficiently. 

“Ahem,” Tucker brought the attention back to himself, “the job has been complete, sir. May I please see a grenade?” Tucker choked back his nerves and put on as much faux-confidence as he could muster. 

The chief of security pressed a button, and a MRVN unit had come into the room with an empty platter. It walked up to the chief of security, and was handed a couple grenades. It took those grenades and offered them to Tucker. 

Tucker stiffened up with the pressure of testing out his equipment, but this was what he had months to prepare for. He took a couple small breaths from his nose, and aimed the grenade. He armed it, and threw it at the door. It hit the door with a thud and landed near the base. A couple of seconds of waiting goes by as the grenade takes it's time to explode, but when it does, everyone in the room covers their ears as it lefts off a deafening sound. Tucker covered his eyes and looked away to protect his face as the grenade went off. 

Tucker looked back at the door, as did everyone who adverted their eyes, and was greeted with a small could of smoke covering where the door should be. “I'm sorry to say,” one of the larger shareholders spoke out, “that it looks like your little invention didn't work. There ain't no door there no more, and I think it's painfully obvious that this was a waste of all our times.” 

The counsel murmured to themselves again, only the CEO remained silent. Tucker's face melted into pure disappointment, his creations he put his heart and soul into had failed to do the job they were designed to do.

“Pardon me for comin' across as unprofessional, but I have to say that is the most disapointin' shit I've seen since being a major shareholder. You waste all your god damn time on these dumbass microbots and they still don't even work. You go around your superiors and make the damn things, only for them to fail before they even get past Counsel approval. I like your moxie kid, but you ain't got what it takes, apparently.” the southern man laughed a hearty laugh at his insults, causing some of the other shareholders to laugh along with him. 

As Tucker was being insulted and mentally preparing himself to be let go, he noticed something as the cloud of smoke began to dissipate. “Look!” Tucker shouted, interrupting the laughter and pointing to the cloud. “The-The-The door, it's... it's,” his heart was racing as the impossible seemed to become true.

“It's still there...” the lead of engineering said as his mouth dropped. The door was still there, the smoke dispersed completely and the door remained intact, not even the glass had shattered. It stood proudly in the room, leaving many of the counsel in disbelief. 

“See,” Tucker said as he attempted to regain the room's attention, “the door was upgraded and it withstood a grenade. It is supposed to break apart when hit with an explosive and it still stands strong.” Tucker stood as proud as the door, looking the southern gentleman in the face as he presented his accomplishments. 

“Now what in the god damn- look here boy, you probably missed that grenade on purpose. MRVN unit, take one of them-there Arc Stars at throw it directly at the door. If anythin' gonna give it an honest go without any bias, it's gonna be our robots.”

Tucker stood back as the MRVN unit did what it was told. The Arc Star hit the door dead center, and stuck onto it like it's life depended on it. On queue, it let out a burst of EMP as it exploded, leaving much less smoke than the grenade. The door was in worse shape as the glass had now cracked and the door became loose on it's hinges.

“See,” the shareholder began again, “I told ya all you did was miss on purpose. That door is broken, like we knew it would be. If ya ask me, I think Dr. Freighter's made yet another failure.” 

This caused more murmuring, and nothing Tucker could do would change their minds anymore. He did all he could, and put on the best show he knew how. Now was the time, in Tucker's mind, to plan where to work and live next as he would surely be packing his locker up soon. 

A couple minutes went by as the Counsel's murmuring turned into a legitimate review of Tucker's performance and his tech. Tucker was forced to remain silent as the Counsel did it's thing, and trying to interject would only worsen his results. The room was filled with noise as Tucker filtered it out and went into mental isolation for the time being. He felt like he was in a court about to be sentenced to death. He knew he couldn't break down in front of his superiors, as this would have ruined what little chance of recovery he could possibly have. He thought about Krystal, his best friend, how she'd encouraged him through the entire process. How he was grateful he met her in his internship at Hammond Robotics, as she was the main driving force and how he'd been able to keep pushing forward after each failure. He thought about his family, how he grew up poor and how his parents were so proud of him going into college for Engineering. He thought about his two older sisters, how they both were very supportive of his choice to not fight in the Frontier War like them. He thought about his Eldest Sister, who's grave his visited every time he went home. He thought of how she would have been proud of him, even in times like these where he's looking devastation in the face and taking it as bravely as he could. 

The room went silent again as the Chief of Security silenced everyone in the room to allow for a final decision. Tucker opened his eyes and became aware of reality again, ready for the worst. “Alright,” The Lead of Engineering spoke for the final time, being his direct superior he felt the need to deliver the verdict, “we as the counsel have come to an agreement. Dr. Tucker Freighter, your performance today at this meeting was an interesting one. Your creativity is a very varied one, and your commitment to your ideas are admired; you went as far as making all of the Nanomites and all the gear needed to operate them yourself. However, the demonstration you provided us today did not fill us with the upmost confidence in your vision. This, coupled with your obvious lack of confidence in your own prototypes, is why the Counsel has decided that your request for official support of Hammond Robotics for your Nanomites and your very abrupt request to be transferred to the Apex Games for field testing will be -”

“Accepted.” The CEO, who had been silent and watched Tucker throughout the entire meeting, had finally spoken. Her voice boomed over the Lead of Engineering, and caused a wave of silence and disbelief to cross everyone, even Tucker. The MRVN unit who was still in the room turned to tucker, and gave him a thumbs up while displaying a Smiley face. “Meeting adjured, Dr. Freighter you will be reassigned within the month. Get yourself ready and prepared.” without another word, the CEO's hologram flickered and shut off. The Counsel was still in awe at what had just happened, and Tucker was right there with them.

“Well,” the lead of janitorial duties spoke, his old and kind voice being a sight for sore ears, “you heard the Madame, get a move on!” Tucker didn't need to be told twice, he was on his way to clean out his locker for the best reason he could imagine.


	4. Death

The meeting of counsels actually took place across multiple planets, however the headquarters of Hammond Robotics was located on the most important planet on the galaxy, Earth. The CEO got up from her seat after turning off the holographic projection of Dr. Freighter's meeting. She stretched slightly and made her way to her office, where she was followed by another important figure of Hammond Robotics. He was steaming and barged in the CEO's room after her, demanding an audience with her. 

“What in the world were you thinking?” The Lead of Engineering asked the CEO .

It hasn't been fifteen minutes after the Counsel meeting, and the Lead of Engineering had followed the CEO shortly after Tucker's departure. Her room was much darker than the Counsel's room, giant shades had covered the windows; blanketing the room in near black shadows. It was much smaller and much more modest than one would expect, only the size of an average living room. With a few knickknacks and personal touches placed modestly, the only thing in the room was a desk with a computer and a very comfortable looking chair. The CEO sat down in this chair, the leather creaking as her body slowly descended onto it, her silence only making the creaking all the more chilling. She crossed her hands together on her desk, and looked at the Lead of Engineering with her icy cold eyes. The man cleared his throat and continued, a little less confident this time. 

“I demand,” he continued, gulping a slight amount of air, “that you send Dr. Freighter a report stating that this was all a mistake and that he will not become what could be the face of Hammond Robotics.” The Lead huffed a little and threw his weight around. The CEO did not respond, and he continued. “That man, that boy, could very well try to send the wrong message. Yes, we are trying to be better, but if he goes out in public and promises HR will do things it cannot, then our public image will drop even lower than it already has. We can't risk letting some glossy-eyed, man bun having, blabbermouth cash checks our ass can't pay for. I will not have this!” 

A full minute goes by of silence from the CEO and angry huffing and puffing from the Lead of Engineering. The CEO straightens out in her chair, having it creak once again before finally speaking. “Good, now that you have finished throwing a temper tantrum, may I remind you that your job is not to question my judgment. I know what I am doing, I always do.” She takes her attention away from the Lead and types very quickly on her keyboard. The computer screen instantly reacting to her inputs and illuminating her face, the bright light casting large shadows across her face like a flashlight. With her eyes and cheekbones looking far more sunken in her face, she continued on without looking at the Lead of Engineering. “You see, I am very well aware with our current situation. We are... not trusted in the eyes of the people. We did fund the Frontier War, after all. Our name is on machines that have slaughtered countless people, and tore many families apart. Since then, we have been trying to scrub away the memories of that war, and replace them with products that help the people in the Galaxy live an easier life. All's well until twenty five years ago, when one of our simulacrums decided to become self aware of what he actually is, and slowly slaughter our workers to get into company secret projects. Project Silence and Project Undeath. All taken far too soon, and revealed to the public projects we were not yet ready to unveil. We might have shelved the prototypes, we might have continued with their development. Who knows, now that the tech has been taken before we got to make that decision.” 

The CEO took a breath, and finished her typing. The Lead of Engineering remaining quiet as he was essentially talked down to like a child. Normally, this would make him red in the face and even more angrier than he was, but the CEO was an expert in intimidation, and her cold delivery kept the man in check. Minutes go by in absolutely silence, only the sharp tapping of the keyboard pierces through the almost deafening quiet. 

“You see,” The CEO finally continues, “Revenant, as he's known as now, is our fault. Anyone who cared to give him a second glance would realize that. However, the only people who watch bloodsports like the Apex Games are simpletons, and haven't given it much thought. So, with a Simulacrum running around with our name branded onto him, how do you think we keep our image positive, hmm?” 

The CEO sat in silence once again, glaring patiently in the eyes of the Lead of Engineering. He had a hard time keeping his cool as his knees began to buckle slightly. “Well... we have the planet harvester, w-which is obtaining and distributing a practically innumerable amount of energy to be distributed across the Outlands... ma'am.” 

The CEO nodded, and continued. “Right, we do have the planet harvester. But that's... it. After twenty five years of the Simulacrum roaming free and being a potential threat to anyone in his path, all we do is unveil an energy machine and call it 'Good Enough'? No, we do not stop here. We need something that'll put Hammond Robotics back on the rise, we need someone who will represent us in the best light possible and shine as the official mascot of the employees that Hammond Robotics hires. In short, our public image needs... an upgrade.” 

“A-And you choose Him?!?” The lead now getting his stride back as the absurdity of what he was hearing threw him back into his mini-rage. “This-This, this undignified. This is outrageous. We're Hammond-fucking-Robotics and we need to stoop as low as having a public icon? Whatever happened to just the Company name being good enough, whatever happened to letting our products speak for themselves, whatever-”

The CEO cut him off again, “Revenant happened, you idiot. For twenty-five years we have been having no comments on the Simulacrum, our Simulacrum, that has been on a never ending rampage that has murdered your fellow co-workers and stole tech that we were not ready to even consider giving the public green light yet. Need I remind you how you even got the opportunity to be in the position you are in today, 'Lead-of-Engineering.'” Her voice went from emotionally fueled and angry back to her cold and emotionless tone. “We don't have a choice, this is our last chance to redeem our image and keep going in the way we're going. One more colossal screw-up and that's it, Hammond Robotics would never be trusted in the Public Eye again. This has to work...” Her eyes slowly shifted left as her body followed suit and eventually she was no longer facing her computer, but a window that had just opened up to reveal the view of the city. 

The CEO spoke again, but not to the man in her office. Her voice lowered into a whisper as her reflection in the glass spoke back to her. “He... has to work...”

A television was changed to channel ten, where an interview was taking place. “Welcome back viewers, to our most anticipated interview tonight!” Says the lovely and charming Lisa Stone. “We're here with the newest announcement from the Apex Games and Hammond Robotics for their second-in-a-row Apex Legend, Dr. Tucker “Nano” Freighter.”

“Thank you for having me Ms. Stone.” Tucker says, getting comfortable in his chair. 

“Please, call me Lisa. Now, you were just announced as an upcoming Legend this week, how does it feel to be steps away from the most watched show in the Outlands?” Lisa said, nodding for the camera to shift to Tucker for a response. 

Tucker thought for a moment, fidgeting slightly. “Honestly, it's really exciting. I am grateful for Hammond Robotics for giving me this opportunity, as you know. I hope that I'm able to fit right at home with the other legends, and integrate into the games as seamlessly as possible.”

“Even with Legends such as Caustic, Crypto,” Lisa leaned in for dramatic effect, “ and Revenant?” 

“Heh,” Tucker chuckled nervously, “Yes, I honestly hope so. They'll be my squadmates eventually, so I hope I can start off with everyone on the right foot.” 

“What do you think of him, Revenant I mean? I know one encounter with him was enough for me.” 

“Oh, well, as you know he's been sort of a Boogeyman when it comes to people who work for Hammond Robotics. But with his acceptance into the Apex Games, we're happy to report that there has been no accidents involving him since then.” 

“Yes, yes of course. But what do you think of him, as someone who is about to go up against your own Boogeyman, as you called him, what's going through your mind.” 

“Uhh...” Tucker was a little stuck on that question, he hadn't thought about him since he got the position, so this wasn't a question he was particularly prepared for. “Me? Right. He uhh, well he's... not that scary honestly. Yeah, he's been a force that has been in the shadows for longer than I've worked for Hammond Robotics, but now that I am faced with the reality that I am going to fight against him. I'm not afraid.” 

“Really? Not even a little?” Lisa was on the edge of her seat, eager for a response from the newest challenger. 

“No... well alright maybe a little, but we're going to die anyways. I'm just as afraid to fight Pathfinder or Mirage as I am Revenant. He'll, and not to sound too much like Caustic, just be another test subject for my Nanomites.” Tucker sat proud, he wasn't that scared of Revenant beginning his career, and now wasn't the time to develop a phobia of the Simulacrum. 

“Of course! You're here not only for the admiration that comes with being a Legend, but to field test a creation of your own. Is that right?”

“Correct you are, Lisa. I want to change the world for the better with my greatest accomplishment.” Tucker beamed proudly. “And thanks to my position at Hammond Robotics, and the generosity of the Apex Games, I can do just that.”

“Can you tell me how they work, your Nanomites? I'm sure everyone here is dying to know how you can swing the fights in your favor.” 

“Well, they're a complex network of-” Tucker was quickly cut off by a brief flash of static, and the Television changing to channel eleven. 

On channel eleven was also an interview for Tucker. A man with a desk was asking Tucker a question, along with their other guests who each had their own time to shine beforehand. “So, all of us at home want to know, do you have a favorite Legend?” 

“Oh, that's a hard one.” Tucker stated, clearly a lot more comfortable with this interview than the last. “I played the VR game that came out a year or so ago, so my favorite Legend was always Wattson. But once I started to watch the show itself, I was immediately drawn to Mirage. He's not the most skilled Legend out there, but he is the most entertaining.” 

Before the host could ask another question, the channel was changed again. Channel twelve also had an interview with Tucker. “You know that rivalry that could spring up with either Caustic or Revenant, right? How do you feel about either of them, are you worried that your off battle experiences will be sour?”

“Mmm, no,” Tucker, now being referred to as Nano almost exclusively, responds, “I don't want to step on any toes or get in anyone's way, so I know the best course is to leave them to themselves if they want it. I might be optimistic but I'm not stupid.” 

The crowd laughs and are cut off with more channel flipping. Channel thirteen wasn't an interview itself, but featured Nano. Channel fourteen also featured Nano, the same with fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, and so forth. 

A remote control was put down, as the hands who had them went to go clean a glass. “Well, it's officially official Tuck,” Krystal said, smiling at her best friend, “You've made it!” 

Tucker took a sip of his drink, shrugging everything off. “I mean yeah, but I still haven't made it into the games yet. It's all PR crap until I actually get in the dropship and whatever... I still feel like this could all fall from underneath me... I feel like a fraud.”

Krystal cocked her head back and moaned, “Oh my gooood, dude you've made it. You're known as Nano now, you've had the public basically bash your door down trying to get exclusive interviews, and you're still alive! That's more than you can say about that Forge asshole. You are essentially untouchable at this point.” 

Tucker took another sip, still unsure of himself. “You're probably right... but Kay what if they don't like me?!?” He had played this question up for laughs, but it was a small concern of his. Did he play things too passively during the interviews? Should he have been more aggressive, or ask for a challenge? These were only questions that could be asked and never answered, as his choices pushed him in a path he couldn't answer those questions in. Nano was introduced as a kind, well-to-do, guy who only wanted to help everyone else out. 

Krystal laughed slightly, to also help lighten the mood. “Look, I'm not even going to entertain that thought. You're a likable person, and anyone who can't see that is either dumb, blind, or both. Now, relax, and enjoy your last day of freedom before you're out there with the other people I serve. I don't give a shit about the Apex Games, but I'm happy for you anyways.” 

“You're a good friend, thank you.” Tucker said, laying down his glass. He leaned back slightly in the stool, kicking back for what was the last night of true public anonymity. 

A few hours had passed, and the bar was getting wiped down. All of the patrons had left for the night, except Tucker. He wasn't shit-faced drunk, but merely staying and enjoying the company of Krystal and the silence of the bar, as it had been an hour past closing time. Usually he would be asked to leave, like any customer, but he wanted to walk Krystal home and he was fine waiting in a dark bar for her to finish up cleaning and inventory. The room was virtually quiet, as Krystal didn't like to talk while she ran numbers in her head and triple checked the stock up front and in the back. 

Tucker was as relaxed as could be, the subtle noises of a ticking clock, clinking bottles, and keyboard tapping nearly lulling him to sleep. Krystal had just walked into the back room to record the inventory and other night-shift bar tender things she did, leaving Tucker in the bar area by himself. It was, again, quiet, but the atmosphere slowly shifted from cozy to chilling as Tucker couldn't help but feel like there was something... wrong. He looked around the bar quickly, seeing nothing but the dim-darkness that surrounded him. 

“Tucker, relax.” He thought to himself, “I'm just on edge for tomorrow, there's nothing here but me and Kryst-” 

Crrreeaaakkk. . .

“Oookay, that was probably a mouse or something. No... no that was way too heavy of a noise to be a mouse.” Tucker slowly got up from his seat and stared back into the dimness. He began to walk towards it, convinced that if he did a quick perimeter search then he could relax. “It's all in my mind,” he tried to comfort himself again, “it'll be fine. It'll all be fi-” 

What sounded like a loud clinking noise came from even farther into the bar, a glass had fallen off of something and loudly rolled onto the floor. The glass continued rolling, making the only noise in Tucker's side of the bar. A chill ran down Tucker's spine as he watched the cup come into view, rolling from the completely dark Legend's Retreat, and stop at his feet. The cup was completely clean on the inside, no sign of any drink being in it. “There's no way that this was a coincidence, this is stupid I should probably just get back to Krystal...” was something Tucker should have thought at the time, but his curiosity got the best of him and he stepped forward. 

“There's nothing there, there's nothing in that room. Someone just left a cup and it only now rolled off.” Tucker repeated small words of encouragement to himself as he shuffled closer to the Retreat, the darkness peering back into him the closer he got. After minutes of shuffling, he was at the curtains of the Retreat. Just like staring into an abyss, the darkness stared back at him and beckoned for him to get closer. Tucker gulped, and reached his hand out for the curtains to pull them back and prove that there was nothing there. His hand moved as slow as he shuffled to get to the curtains, inching forwards until the delicate, velvety, cloth grazed his hand. 

Tucker, now gripping the curtains, took a couple small breaths and tried to slow down his heart rate. He was ready to swiftly pull them back, and took a couple seconds to mentally prepare himself. His grip got tighter as he counted down from three, tensing his muscles to pull back. Three... two... one...

Tucker, who was completely ready to pull the curtains off their rack if he had to, was stopped just as he began to pull the curtains back. A cold, long, metal hand quickly grabbed his hand from within the darkness and stopped all of Tucker's momentum in an instant. Tucker's blood ran as cold as the hand, and before he could do anything, the hand's needle-like fingertips dug into Tucker's fist and flung him into the darkness. 

All Tucker could feel is pain, with his fist only being the beginning. The needle-like fingers continued to gash into Tucker's body, trailing up his arm and onto his shoulder. Blood trickled out from the gashes and soaked his flannel overshirt in blood. Tucker let out a scream of pain, only to be silenced by another metal hand over his mouth. It didn't cover it completely, in fact Tucker could continue screaming with little actually being muffled, but the hand's fingers gently cut into his cheeks. 

“Scream again, and I'll cut your face into ribbons.” A deep voice whispered into Tucker's ear. With one hand still drawing blood from Tucker's shoulder, and another on his mouth, the hands pulled Tucker backwards until he backed into a metal frame, still very cold. With the last detail, Tucker quickly put the pieces together and realized who was assaulting him. A man who reveled in treating people like prey, a man who's goal was to be a monster, a boogeyman. Revenant.

“Now,” he said again, quietly, “let's get one things straight. I. Don't. Like. You!” The nerves in Tucker's shoulder began to scream as Revenant's blades pushed themselves deeper, blood oozing out as Tucker himself winced in pain. “I don't mind more competition, even from a Hammond Robotics poster-boy like you. But you had to be the big new challenger on the block, didn't you? Forge's death should have taught you not to do that, hmm?” 

Tucker remained quiet and let Revenant monologue.

“Don't think I care who you were before this, I'm not here to steal your little machines to make myself better. They're a waste of everybody's time, like you Dr. Freighter. Or should I call you Nano? Which do you prefer to hear before you slowly bleed out?” Revenant twisted his fingertips slightly, causing more pain and more blood. 

Tucker remained quiet again, trying to squirm away from Revenant's hold. This only served to anger him as he dug deeper into Tucker's flesh.

“Answer me!” Revenant pushed his face much closer as his voice echoed through Tucker's head.   
“D-Dr.” Tucker said through Revenant's hand. 

Revenant let his grip go a small bit, easing the pain as Tucker cooperated. “Good, very modest of you Dr. I'll make sure the history books say you died with some dignity.” 

“Y-You,” Tucker spoke up, “You can't do this. I'm under contract, you can't kill other legends outside of the arena.” 

“Does it look like I care? All I care about is sending another message, since nobody listened to my first one. Instead of a swift death, I'll torture you. Your friend can clean your blood off the floor when I'm done.” Revenant's grip got much tighter, causing Tucker to let out another yell in pain. Revenant's hand pressed further onto Tucker's mouth and the edge of his cheek began to bleed. “If you scream for help, I'll kill her too. You want that on your conscience during your last moments? Dying in the darkness, and poor Krystal Moore gutted doing a job she couldn't give a shit about. Her life would end... because of you. Think about that before you waste your breath again.” 

“This is how it ends,” Tucker thought to himself, “I die in the Paradise Lounge, in the Legend's Retreat, a day before I actually get to compete.” Tears began to fall down tucker's face as the gravity of the situation finally got to him. 

“So,” Revenant said, breaking the silence. “are you scared of me now?” Revenant chuckled as he could feel Tucker's body losing it's strength. He had him dead to rights and there was nothing he could do about it. 

Suddenly, the light flicked on in the room and the curtains were pulled all the way back. The room went from pitch black to bright light as more than the soft wall lights were turned on in the Legend's Retreat. Tucker's eyes took a while to adjust, and he got to take a good look at Revenant. His hands were as sharp as he imagined them, and the massive wound that was Tucker's shoulder was a lot worse than he imagined it. His mood went from hopeless to both excited and extremely worried at the same time as he saw Krystal at the opening of the room, a pistol in her hand and aimed at the both of them. 

“Let him go, I have security guards and police on their way. You're out-numbered and outgunned.” Krystal said as she aimed down the sights. 

Revenant let out a loud and genuine laugh. “Do you honestly think that will stop me? I could kill both of you and be out here before anyone would know it was me. You willing to die for this skinsuit?” 

Krystal cocked her pistol and steadied her aim. “Any day of the week, trashcan.” As she says that, sirens and flashing lights are heard from outside the bar. 

Revenant hesitated for a moment and weighed out his options. He could just kill everyone and be on his way, or... “You know what, I'm feeling generous.” Revenant ripped his fingers out of Tucker's shoulder and dug them right back into his arm. He made a very quick movement, and sliced downwards to his wrist. Leaving five massive gashes in the arm, deep enough to do some damage but not enough to hit bone or tear joints. “I think my message is better sent with your little friend alive.” He addressed Krystal, and dropped Tucker from his hold. 

Revenant walked up to Krystal. She fired a few shots and each bullet essentially bounced off him. He kept walking as Krystal kept firing and eventually ran out of bullets. He stopped when he was a few inches away from her, and gently caressed her cheek with his blood stained hand. “He knew what he signed up for, all I've done is welcomed him to the bloodbath. Hope you enjoy the show.” Revenant walked past her and headed for a window, “Tell Pathfinder I said Hi.” He mocked as he crushed something in his hand, turned into smoke, and leaped out of the bar. 

Krystal quickly rushed to Tucker, who was now kneeling on the ground and clutching his arm. “Oh my god are you alright?” She said as she was trying to find something to do with her hands. Truth be told, her hands were shaking, in fact every part of her was shaking. The adrenaline from earlier had worn off and her nerves were right there ready to remind her that she was freaking out. Her thoughts were scattered from thinking about Revenant, to how she could have died, how she oddly was and wasn't ready to die at the same time, to how Tucker was currently dying, and how much blood was currently spilling out of her best friend.

“Yeah,” Tucker said through grunts, “I've been better honestly. Haha.” Tucker's mind was slipping from him, as was the world around him. The room was bright light a minute ago, but as blood practically pours from his entire left side he couldn't help but notice that darkness was creeping up from the edge of his eyes.

“You stupid asshole, stop making jokes this is serious. You're dying.” Krystal's emotions slowly shifted from anxiety to worry as the reality of her not being able to do much dawned on her. Tears started to trickle down her face as she still didn't find a good use for her hands, frantically touching one area of the wound and immediately backing off to only chose another spot and do the same thing. She wanted to try and stop the bleeding but his wounds were so big she didn't know where to start, her hands getting bloodier and bloodier with each attempt. 

“Really? Yeah I guess I am, this... sucks... I left my extra life in my other pants.” Tucker smiled, he couldn't help but make jokes when he was in trouble. He used humor to cope when he felt like things were hopeless, because in his mind if he could still crack jokes he could keep going. Truth be told, he wasn't sure he could keep going. Revenant had every intention to kill him outright, and only made the split decision to stop where he was. There was no guarantee that he would come out of this alive, and the less feeling he had in his arm the less confident he felt in his situation. 

“God fucking dammit, I'm furious with you, you don't get to make terrible jokes. I swear to god when you get out of this I'm killing you myself. 'Extra life in my other pants', where'd you read that joke from, Mirage's autobiography?” 

“Haha good one... he does make bad... jokes...” Tucker's breathing started to slow down as the darkness now caved in on his view of Krystal. 

“Fucking, don't you- oh thank fuck.” Krystal got up and left Tucker's side, he could no longer see her. He lied there on the floor and all he could see is the red pool around him get bigger. He had lost all feeling in his body at this point, and his hearing was muffled. He heard what he thought was Krystal's voice and others, but he couldn't recognize them. A wave of exhaustion was creeping on him as the darkness engulfed him, and Tucker's eyes fluttered close as the temptation for a rest, just a small one, kept getting more and more enticing. Tucker gave into that temptation, and gently fell into unconsciousness.


	5. Second Chance

Tucker's eyes opened. He was surrounded by pure white and light. It was a very bright light, but it didn't hurt his eyes to look at it at all. Tucker looked to his arm, it was still horrible gashed, but the bleeding had stopped completely. All of his strength had returned to him as well, and he stood up with ease. He was very confused as to where he was and why he was there. He called out into the white nothingness.

“H-Hello? Is there anyone here?... Where am I?” He said in a raised voice, there was no echo in the plain he was in. There was no response to his calls, and all Tucker could do was keep calling out.   
  
“Maybe I'm too far away from anyone who could hear me, I should just... choose a direction and walk.” He said to himself aloud as he put one foot in front of the other and started walking. The floor underneath him was very unusual, but not in the way he would have expected. Other than being made of light and having no other texture, the sound of his footsteps reminded him of walking on a marble flooring. “Huh, I kind of expected to be walking on snow.” he remarked, then his next step had the crunch he preferred. He was now walking on what felt like snow, except that it also wasn't cold. He took a step back, and what he was sure felt like marble was now snow. Tucker shook his head and tried to put the whole thing out of his mind, he continued onward and kept calling out.

What felt like half an hour went by, and Tucker was getting no where. He felt like giving up and trying another direction, but a very faint noise caught his attention. He looked ahead of himself, and there was a small silhouette of... something. Tucker called out to it at the top of his lungs, waved his arms, and ran towards it. The figure didn't move, but Tucker quickly closed the distance with each step. The silhouette quickly came into focus, and Tucker's heart races as it became clear to him who the person was.   
  
“No it can't be... Ivy?” He said as he got close enough to hear her.   
  
Her voice was as sassy and confident as he remembered her. “Tucker! Come here an' give ya big sister a hug.” She held out her arms wide and Tucker slammed into her, throwing off her balance a little.   
  
Tucker held onto her, his arms squeezing as hard as he could. He buried his face in her shoulder, with tears peaking from his eyes. “I've... I've missed you so much.”   
  
“Ya don't say, how's my little squirt doing , it's been quite a while.” Ivy said as she hugged him back just as hard and tried to gruff up his hair as she used to do. “Oh, you got dreads now? Looks good, but I've always worn them better.”   
  
“I'm doing fine I- well, not too good right now but it's not an issue.” Tucker let go of the embrace and stood back, getting a proper look at his older sister for the first time in years. “You... You're still wearing your uniform from the war, IMC.” He pointed out.  
  
“Huh? Oh yeah, kinda all I got to wear now a-days. Enough about me, you've got some exciting things coming up. An Apex Legend, that's cool.” Ivy said as she lifted her eyebrow and gave him a look of anticipation.  
  
“Yeah, I was supposed to actually participate tomorrow but I kind of got occupied with, uh, personal business.” Tucker shrugged.  
  
“Revenant will get what's coming to him, you've got to take revenge for that nasty wound he gave you.” Ivy motioned to it, “I'm confident you'll kick his ass next time you get, you wouldn't wanna disappoint Papa would you?”   
  
“Huh? What are you talking about, I want to spend time with you. I haven't seen you since you-” Tucker just now realized something he's known for years, Ivy was dead. “You-You, Ivy how-”  
  
Tucker was cut off by his oldest sister grabbing him in a head lock and giving him a noogie. “Come here, squirt, I know you got important things to do. Dr. Freighter, inventor of the friggen coolest little bots I've ever seen. Nano the Hammond Robotics Legend. You ain't have time to chitchat with me for much longer.”   
  
“Ah, stop, I hate it when you do that!” Tucker protested and pulled away from the headlock.   
  
“Ha, that's the first time you've been able to pull away without calling for help. I'm proud of ya, you got the fighten' spirit I knew you had in ya. You'll be fine and do great things squirt, just know I love ya.”   
  
“What?... What are you talking about, I'm not going anywhere. I can't leave you I'll never see you again.” Tucker protested again.  
  
“Blin, you always worry too much, I'll always be by your side. You've got my full support.” Ivy said, and walked up to him, still standing taller than her little brother.   
  
“But, but, but, that's not true because you d-” Tucker was interrupted as Ivy poked his chest, sending what felt like a deep pulse . “Ow, the hell?”   
  
Ivy's face relaxed and rested on a neutral position. She poked him again, knocking him back a little.   
  
“Augh, stop, that really hurts. What are you doing?” Tucker's chest started to feel tingly and he didn't like it.  
  
Ivy poked his chest again, sending an even deeper shock into Tucker's body. “Clear.”   
  
“What? Clear?... Ow!” Tucker was poked again, causing him to stumble back. “What do you mean, why are you poking me?”  
  
“Clear.” Ivy's pokes now physically hurt and her voice was changing. Her slight Russian accent shifting to one that sounded more Jamaican. “Clear.”   
  
Tucker was struggling to keep his balance as Ivy's pokes caused his entire body to feel hot, and his left arm was feeling it the most. He could barely keep himself distracted from the pain. “Please stop, I don't know what you're doing but it hurts really bad, this isn't funny.” Tucker's arm was very stiff and hard to flex, he couldn't move it farther than a few inches and he hated it. He wanted to go back to the blissful unawareness, he wanted this to stop. “Ivy...? Don't let me go, please I don't want to live without you anymore. I miss you.”

He wouldn't get his peace, as Ivy's last poke caused electricity to jump from her fingertip and finally throw Tucker off his feet. “Ivy?!? Ivanka! Ivanka please!” Tucker began to scream as he fell through the floor he stood on, being consumed by the light and falling incredibly fast. He knew he wouldn't be falling forever as he could feel the presence of an end to his drop. He closed his eyes and braced for impact.  
  


“Stan' back, stan' back, he's comin' to.” A Jamaican voice pierced Tucker's ears as his eyes creaked open to more bright light, a light that burned his eyes as he looked directly at it. Unfortunately, Tucker could still feel his body. It wasn't the searing pain he remembered it being what felt like moments ago, but he wasn't happy to feel it all the same. His eyes hadn't fully adjusted yet, but he knew he was in a completely different room. The sharp scent of disinfectant was the first smell his nose could pick up on, and the hardwood floor of the Legend's Retreat was replaced with an oddly comfortable bed. Tucker quickly put the pieces together and knew he was in... a hospital. He didn't know how, or why, but as his eyes got used to the lights they confirmed his assumption.   
  
Tucker took in his surroundings, quietly looked from right to left with his eyes, and smiled. A huge relief had washed over him, but he wasn't exactly sure why. He shimmied in his bed, feeling the resistance of cast on his left arm up to his shoulder. He attempted to turn his head to look at it, but the muscles near his shoulders were still sore and informed him that looking in that direction was off-limits for a while.   
  
Tucker sighed, which got the attention of his head surgeon. “Hey, glad ta see ya doin' alrigh' so far. You should be lucky, not many t'ings can take me away from the Apex Games, but a request from Hammon' Robotics just about does it.” Her voice rang in his ears like a tune he couldn't forget, and instantly he knew the reason he was still alive, the only person who could have brought him back from the brink of death had saved his life. Lifeline!  
  
Tucker remained silent, thinking it better to try not to speak for a while. While his throat was feeling fine, he thought best to keep quiet for a while; the last thing he needed to do was get over excited because he was right next to _the_ Lifeline.   
  
“Such a shame we had ta meet this way.” Lifeline said as she was cleaning up her work space.  
  
Tucker shifted his head slightly and looked at her with the edge of his eyes, asking why without moving his lips.

“I was hopin' to meet you like everyone else would. But now you're my patient, and I'm gonna keep an eye on ya whether I wan' ta or not.” She said matter-of-factly.  
  
Tucker didn't know how to take that, and contorted his face into a confused look.  
  
“Silva, Octavio, Octane, however ya want ta call him, I keep an eye on him when I can. Call it a Doctor's intuition. I can' help ma'self much, he's a reckless man so it's not hard ta see why. You, on the otha' hand, Dr. Freighter... Nano, was it? You're gonna need someone ta keep an eye on ya back while you're around ol' Robo-bones.”  
  
Tucker took a second to think on who 'Robo-bones' was, and then another second, and another. A decent chunk of time went by as Tucker thought, a lot longer than he'd care to admit, but it eventually made sense. She was talking about Revenant.  
  
“He did a numba' on ya arm, quite nasty. But, lucky for you nothing serious was cut, like ya ligaments and joins, so ya should still be able ta use ya arm like ya used to. It'll probably be a little harda' to pick up small t'ings or touch your back with that arm, but it'll still work.” Lifeline twirled a medkit gun in her arms and blew into it like a smoking gun. “ Still the best Doctor in the Frontier!” she said quietly, mostly to herself but loud enough so that the others in the room could hear her well earned boast.

While the excitement from a job well done was slowing down for the day, the operation room doors swung open as a woman with long, silky, black hair burst through the door. “HE'S ALIVE?!?” her voice shrieked from the end of the room. Loud sobbing accompanied the sound of running as she bolted to the operation table. “OUT OF THE WAY, MOVE, PLEASE I NEED TO SEE HIM... I NEED TO BE SURE!” People made way as quickly as they could, only Lifeline being the one to not move from her spot. The woman almost crashed into the bed as she slammed on her heels to slow herself down enough to see Tucker. “Oh my god Tucker you're alive, thank fuck you're alive.”   
  
“Krystal,” Tucker finally said, his voice a little raspy. “What are you doing, you're causing a scene.”  
  
“I don't give two fucks if I'm starring in a movie, I'm just so glad you're alive. I came with you on the ambulance, I stayed up as long as it took, they had to keep you on life support until the games ended. Those _bastards!_ ” Krystal said with hatred and tears running down her face.  
  
“What? What do you mean, the games don't start until tomorrow.” Tucker said, genuinely confused.

“Sorry ta interrupt,” Lifeline said, walking in closer to Krystal and putting a kind hand on her shoulder.

“No, no, you're fine Ajay.” Krystal said, sniffling and quietly sobbing to herself.  
  
“I was just gonna say that she's right, today was the day you were sa'possed ta be in the games. Your squad was left a man short, that bein' you Nano.” Lifeline said as she watched Tucker's face puppeteer his thoughts as the realization of what that meant finally dawned on him.   
  
“Waitwaitwait, no that can't be true I haven't even moved my equipment to the drop ship. Was I really out for a day? I gotta go Doc I need to get moving otherwise-” Tucker was stopped by Lifeline putting her hand on his chest and keeping him down.  
  
“No way I'm letting ya just walk outta my operation room after I just got done fixin' ya. You wait there until ya arm is healed up. Hammond Robotics went all out ta make sure you'll make to ya next game, so they've got ya hooked up to some expensive cell regeneratin' fluids so you'll feel betta in no time. But ya still need ta be patient.” Lifeline instructed him. She quickly gathered her medical supplies and put them neatly on a tray to be cleaned. She squatted down to Krystal's level as she now put her arm around her. “Come on, I can't be havin' my favorite bar tenda' losin' herself now. Let's get ya some water and calm you down, he'll be just fine.”  
  
Krystal sniffed as the tears had long since dried up, “You sure he'll... you're right, you're right. I'm just so god damn tired and stressed and...” Krystal paused, realizing she might be worrying Tucker with venting her experience in front of him. “A drink would be nice, thank you.”   
  
“No worries, I unda'stand.” Lifeline and Krystal began to walk out the door. Lifeline turned her head to look back at Tucker. “Oh, before I forget. Ya boss wanted ta talk to ya when ya woke up, try not ta get fired!”

Tucker rolled his eyes and moaned, he knew this would be coming, He wasn't sure which boss it was, be it any of the Leads in the Counsel, or the CEO herself. He wasn't looking forward to finding out, so he tried his best to enjoy the time he had left.

After a while, Tucker was moved from the operation room to a quiet patients room. It was a single room with a bed that allowed him to prop himself up, a large holo-screen, and a small package of things Krystal had left him there with a nice note. It read:   
“Hey ~~dude~~ ~~friend~~ ~~pal~~ Tuck _god this note is off to a great start_ , I hope this package gets to you soon. I don't know which room you'll be in but I'm sorry I can't be there to wait for you right now. I waited a full day with no sleep and thank god Elliot understands the situation we're both in so I get to have some time off. I'm taking that time off to sleep, trust me I need it. I'll visit you soon, and if you're better before I get to see you then that's even better _I hope_! I don't want you to die of boredom so I let myself into your house _you don't keep your doors locked for some reason WTF!?!_ and got a few of your things that seemed important. I was gonna bring your Nanomites but I can't remember which ones were your favorite so I patted their chamber and told them you'd be home soon _I don't know if they refer to you as Daddy (not in the gross way) but if they do from now on I'm sorry_. Get well soon ~~champ~~ ~~broseph~~ ~~my guy~~ Tucker. <3 Krystal, your best friend.”

Tucker looked inside the package and found his holo-tablet, a small gaming device with a couple of his favorite games, and a new VR headset with a sticky note on it, “I am _not_ touching your weird evil-scientist looking headset and breaking it. Have a new one on me. P.S you're welcome alsoyouoweme.” Tucker laughed at the note and turned his attention to his tablet, inside were all his notes and an up-to-date code file for his Nanomites; exactly how he had left it. He scrolled to the bottom of the code and got ready to continue his work, but was interrupted by his holo-screen's large pop-up that covered the massive screen. It was a video request call from the CEO of Hammond Robotics. Tucker swore quietly to himself before he hesitantly accepted the call.   
  
“Hi boss-” was all he could get out before the CEO started her tirade. He was in for the long haul.   
  
“Dr. Freighter,” she started off, her cold ice-y voice easily sending shivers down Tucker's spine, “you are off to a very disappointing start as the official representative of Hammond Robotics in the Apex Games.”   
  
Tucker gulped in fear and gave the CEO a guilty smile.  
  
“Your interviews went well. You preformed adequately in reminding the public who you were sponsored by, and what you stood for. You have the company's commendment for that, however, costing the company many thousands of dollars to save you from the brink of death is not what was expected of your first day as a Legend. I understand your position in this predicament is not entirely your own fault, but you will take full responsibility for what happens to you outside of our influence. In doing so, you have disappointed countless viewers in not showing up, which has put a bad stain on your record. You will not be fired for this, however you will not be sympathized with either. You have a job to do, Dr. Freighter, and getting yourself killed is not in the job description. Right now you have completely blown your budget for unexpected costs and that will be marked on your performance evaluation at the end of the year. There are many, many, more people that would work much harder than you to be in your place, Doctor. An icon, a representative, a public star, you understand your position is... easily filled. Correct?”  
  
Tucker nodded, a bead of cold sweat ran past his cheek.   
  
“Very good, I am glad to have had made myself clear. So, _Nano_ ,” The CEO said in distaste, clearly not a fan of the name. “You are to make this up to the company, to me. I expect more than one hundred percent effort in the coming months. For your sake, there will be no extra paperwork outside what has already been assigned to you, but you will need to perform more than what was expected of you originally. I must see massive improvements to your Nanomites as well as you as a Legend. You will report to the training ground no less than once a day, you will work on your Nanomites in whatever way you deem is necessary in no less than five hours a day, and you will train physically and mentally in specifically designed courses made by us, your employers, Hammond Robotics. You must do well in everything and more, to put into easy to digest words for an engineer such as yourself, you must overclock and perform past one hundred percent efficiency. Do I make myself clear, Doctor?”   
  
“Yes ma'am, perfectly clear.” Tucker nodded quickly. Inside his mind he was dreading all the extra work he was assigned. “Why couldn't Revenant just have killed me, it would have been so much easier.” Tucker thought to himself.

“Good.” The CEO looked down at her keyboard and silently tapped away at it, causing another pop-up to appear on the holo-screen. “Please direct your attention to this clip of the Apex Games. Specifically, the game that you were absent for. Witness firsthand what your carelessness has done and let the reality of the situation sink in.” The clip started off at the end of the match, two squad remaining.

Revenant was the star of the show, as it was a three-vs-one scenario. Wraith and Pathfinder were down, as the second squad of Wattson, Crypto, and Bloodhound were positioned to win. Revenant managed to sneak behind all three of them, and placed his totem for himself. He burst into black smoke and climbed up the building the second squad was hunkering in.

Before Bloodhound knew what hit them, Revenant burst through the room and layed into them with his R-99, finishing them off with a stab to the heart with his arm. He quickly shifted to the next room, where Crypto was frantically looking for Revenant with his drone.

Spotting him as he was about to enter the room, Crypto called out to Wattson and readied his gun. Wattson was about to place down her Interception Pylon, but a small grenade with a smoke trail hit her dead on, and what could only be described as red lightning coursed through her entire body. “I'm silenced.” she called out, and Crypto took his attention off the door to look at Wattson.

Revenant took his opportunity and struck, swinging the door open and flinging two arc stars on Crypto. The arc stars glowed a bright blue before exploding, one after the other. Revenant ran past Wattson and right at Crypto, grabbing his throat and carving it open with his fingertips.

Wattson fired her Devotion recklessly, hoping to land hits where she could. Revenant took out his R-99 again and fired at her. Revenant ran out of bullets, threw his gun to the floor and sprinted at Wattson at full speed, his body snaking around the bullets he could before getting right up close to Wattson. Wattson continued to fire her Devotion, and just in the nick of time the shadowy essence of Revenant had dissipated into black smoke. Wattson was given a few seconds to catch her breath. She took the time she had to charge up her shields.

Revenant was making his was back up the building, and snuck in through the second entrance, just behind Wattson's view. She was unable to fully recover as Revenant struck again, firing two round of shotgun shells into her with the Peacekeeper. Before Wattson could react, Revenant had jumped to her and clasped his hands around her neck. She did not last long as his fingers slowly dug into her neck on top of the immovable force he applied to her. She quickly ran out of air and that was it.

Soaked in other people's blood and laughing manically, Revenant and his squad was announced winners. He took to the winner's position, still covered with blood, and spoke into the microphone. “Pain is something I've honed over the years, and I'm glad to see even my efforts outside the games still carry it's weight. Hope you get well soon, Doctor.” The clip ended with a zoom in of Revenant's face, his laughter echoing before the clip was cut off.   
  
Tucker sat in silence, completely awestruck. All he could do was blink and leave his mouth slightly open. The CEO brought him back to reality.   
  
“As you can see, this is what you are up against. A stone cold killer who takes pride in his... work. This is what you will work towards to stop. I think we both have come to an understanding, and you truly understand the importance of your job. I chose you out of the hundreds of quantifiable people, I chose you when the others deemed your work a failure, I chose you because I believed in your potential for Hammond Robotics... don't let me down again Nano.” and without saying goodbye, the CEO discontinued the call. Leaving Tucker at a blank screen and shell-shocked. He was originally dreading the work ahead of him, but now all of that was cleared from his mind as he replayed the clip in his head over-and-over again. This is what he was up against, this is who murdered his colleges for twenty five years without being caught, this... is what real fear felt like.


	6. Ride

It had been a little less than a week, and Tucker was already sick of seeing the same hospital room and eating the same food. He left as soon as he could, his arm feeling as good as it used to with only scar tissue left over. He got the 'okay' from his doctor and surgeon, both Lifeline, and he practically leaped out of his bed. He packed up his leisure things that Krystal had given him, and begun to make his way to the place he should have been a while ago; the Apex Dropship. 

Hammond Robotics is the kind of company that does and doesn't care about you. If you die on the job, the first thing they'll do is clean up your remains and promote someone else to your position. But they'll also provide you top of the line service when required, and Tucker had a tendency to need those services. 

He was greeted by a Limousine outside of the hospital, it was pure white and impossibly shiny. The only marking on it was the massive HR brandished on the hood of the Limo. A man in a clean cut suit held out a sign that read “Nano”. His face could only be described as 'not too pleased to be in the rather-inhospitable land that made up Solace'. Tucker gleefully shouted for the man's attention, and the man recognized him. 

“I presume you are Dr. Tucker Freighter, sir?” Said the driver, only asking out of job principle. 

“Yessir, that's me. Did Hammond Robotics really send a Limo?” Tucker looked behind the driver to gaze at the Limousine again. 

“Of course sir, only the best for the company's best. I would have picked you up a while ago, but it came to my attention that things got rescheduled.” The Driver responded.

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.” Tucker chuckled nervously. He would have rubbed the back of his neck if his hands weren't full carrying a box full of stuff.

“No problem sir, things happen. Shall I get the door for you?” The Driver asked.

“Oh, sure that would be nice.” Tucker responded innocently. 

A small and subtle smirk crawled it's way onto the Driver's face, he knew something Tucker didn't. Nevertheless, he walks over to open the door for Tucker, waiting until he's next to the Limo to open the door. 

The Driver isn't a malicious person, he just likes a good, harmless, practical joke every now and then. While he didn't set this particular one up, he would enjoy it all the same. The door opened, and what Tucker saw both made his heart full and made his heart sink. It was exactly what he could have hoped for and everything he dread all at the same time. 

“TUKOR!” Shouted a large, dark, and slightly balding Russian man from inside the Limousine. 

A lighter skinned woman smacked the large man's chest, “You don't need to shout, I'm right here.” She turned her head away from the man and towards Tucker. Her plump, stern face, quickly melted into a soft and loving one, as she too grinned ear to ear. “Hi Baby.” 

“Hi Mama, Privet Papa...” Tucker said, and sighed quietly. This was going to be a looong ride. 

The Limo ride was actually going to be rather short, less than an hour's drive. What was going to take a while was the aircraft ride needed to get to the dropship itself. However, that was later. What was now was the limo ride. Tucker loved his parents, but he knew his dad liked to embarrass him  
in public. It was all in good fun though, because it was never more than a few moments. Now that the moment has passed, he could enjoy his parent's company. Tucker couldn't help but laugh as his dad was trying to tell one of his favorite stories from back home. 

Tucker's dad couldn't hold his laughter back as he continued to tell his story. His grin beamed from his shaggy beard, and he couldn't hold a straight face for too long while he talked. “And then- Aha, and then I pick him up and slam him into the snow. Hahaha, he goes in face first and half his body is sticking out. Then, as he tries to get out, his legs wiggle like worm!” Tucker's Dad laughs heartily as it bellows from him. He pinches the bridge of his nose and slams on the armrest, trying his best to calm himself down. “But, but, everything is okay at end. Fire is put out and hat is not completely ruined. Hahaha...” 

“Come on Jaquan, Tucker has heard that story a dozen times.” Tucker's Mom pipes up, gently smacking Tucker's Dad, Jaquan, in his massive forearm playfully. She can't help but giggle either. 

“What, you know it is still favorite story of yours Mary. He asked for help and I give it to him, no harm done.” Jaquan smiles, and grooms his beard a small bit as he calms down. He sneaks a quick kiss from Mary. This only causes the both of them to laugh, and Mary gives him another kiss before peeling him off. Now wasn't the time to be cutesy. 

“So... Tucker, the main reason we're here with you-” Mary starts. Tucker calms down from his laughter as well, and hearing his mom start off like this only drops his heart a little. Mary continues, “is because we're worried... for you. Now, before you get at me and say,” Mary lowers her voice to mimic Tucker and the way he speaks, which is almost dead on. “'Oh there's nothing to worry about, they've developed respawn technology',” Mary's voice returns to normal and she continues. “just know we're worried about you outside of this new... job. This isn't an engineering job, you're putting yourself out there publicly as well. And it's gotten you, well...” 

Mary pauses and moves from one side of the Limo to the other side, and sits to the left of Tucker. She looks him in the eyes with soft and caring eyes as she gently puts a hand on his arm. Tucker flinches in response, his arm still being a little sore. Mary continues, “it hasn't started off on a good note. You... you almost died baby. I going to be honest with you, I can't bare to lose another one of my precious children. You, Vera, and Ivanka all mean the world to me. I can't put another in the grave, that's your job when we grow old.” Tears start forming at the edge of her eyes as she looks up at her son, her only son. 

Jaquan notices the vibe of the room and changes seats as well. He sits to the right of Tucker, and wraps his arms around both his wife and his son; easily encapsulating both of them in a hug. “I did not think we would need to be here,” Jaquan picks up where Mary left off. “I think of my kids as strong hunters, who can survive on own. We did good as parents, we made sure you and sisters had everything you need to grow up safe and sound. Now, it is important we remind you that our job has not stopped, but mostly been passed to you; Tukor. We... love you, do not forget.” 

Tucker's cheeks were sprinkled with his own tears, his parent's were genuinely concerned for him and this is the most emotional and open they've ever been with him. His throat hitched as he tried to respond. “I-I know you-” He was cut off by his dad gently shushing him. He got the message, and hugged his family back. 

It was a long, and silent, hug, and it remained like that for the rest of the trip. As the Limousine slowed down to a stop, Jaquan and Mary let go of their son, who was still very emotional. Tucker took a deep breath and wiped away his tears. He looked to his mom and his dad, and smiled. “Thank you for being here, Mama. Spasibo, chto byl zdes', papa. I promise I'll-” 

Mary put a finger up to Tucker's mouth, and gently shushed him. “No, don't promise us that. We know you can't keep a promise like that, and it's unfair for us to want that. Just... be safe out there; know your safety is our concern, and know that we love you deeply.” 

Tears threaten to pour down Tucker's face again as his face contorts into an ugly sad face, but his mother swoops in for another hug. “There there, it's gonna be alright. You're a Freighter, you will be strong in your own way.” Mary's soft words helped Tucker melt into the hug. 

Jaquan slaps Tucker on his back and tries to lighten the mood. “Not everyone can be as strong as your Papa, but I like to think I did good job in training you to be like me.” Tucker laughed along with his dad, and pulled away from the hug. 

He sniffled again, and wiped the tears away on his eye's horizon. “I love both of you, and I will think of you throughout my entire career here. I'll make you proud.” Tucker salutes, trying to mimic his sisters a little. 

“You already make us proud, Nano.” Jaquan put his arm around his son and squeezed, Tucker laughed a little. He was really glad that his parents came, and he is now more motivated than ever to do the best he can. 

Mary opened the door to leave the Limo and let Tucker out. Tucker did get out of the Limo, but not without pulling his Dad out and hugging them for the final time. The sound of aircraft jets signified that the hug needed to end as Tucker's ride was here. He grabbed his box of stuff from the Limo and smiled at his parents. Jaquan wrapped his arms around Mary and held onto her tightly, as the pain of watching her son leave her was creeping up on her and her face showed it. Tucker got the to the stairs of the aircraft pad, sifted the box onto one arm, and waved up until he got into the aircraft. His parents waved back, and, as Tucker got into the aircraft, Mary buried her head in her husband's chest as she cried into it. 

Tucker didn't see his mother cry again, but that was intentional on her part. He was scooped into the aircraft before he could look back. The Aircraft's jets pointed downwards and slowly rose into the air. After reaching terminal height, it shifted it's jets forward and took off. Leaving a family and their ride behind for the Apex Dropship itself. 

An automated voice was heard through the speakers of the aircraft, grabbing Tucker's attention as he was familiar with this voice as well. “Welcome, Nano,” she said, “to your belayed ride into the Apex Games. I am the announcer for the games, and I will brief you on the regulations and conditions you will follow on Apex Games property. Are you ready to receive your instructions?” 

Tucker, now officially Nano, stowed his box under his seat and faced the speaker directly in front of him. He cleared his throat slightly, wiped his eyes for the last time, and took a small breath. “Yes,” he responded. “I'm ready.”


End file.
